Lighting arrangement for keyboard instruments

ABSTRACT

A piano lighting arrangement comprising two lamp fixtures, one on each side of the piano music rack and each supported by the piano, each lamp fixture having a light bulb and means providing an opaque portion which protects the player&#39;&#39;s eyes from the direct light of its bulb, while the light shines on the music rack to illuminate written music thereon and on the keyboard to illuminate the keys.

United States Patent Inventor Sergei l. Mihailoff 2820 Baker St., SanFrancisco, Calif. 94123 Appl. No. 14,839

Filed Feb. 16, 1970 Division of Ser. No. 741,000, June 28, 1968 PatentedNov. 2, 1971 LIGHTING ARRANGEMENT FOR KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS 7 Claims, 10Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 240/4, 240/52, 248/230 Int. Cl A47b 97/00 Field of Search 240/4,2, 8, 18, 53, 52; 248/230 Primary Examiner- Louis J. CapoziArl0rneyOwen, Wickersham & Erickson ABSTRACT: A piano lightingarrangement comprising two lamp fixtures, one on each side of the pianomusic rack and each supported by the piano, each lamp fixture having alight bulb and means providing an opaque portion which protects theplayer's eyes from the direct light of its bulb, while the light shineson the music rack to illuminate written music thereon and on thekeyboard to illuminate the keys.

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INVHNTOR.

SERGEI I. MIHAILOFF ATTORNEYS LIGHTING ARRANGEMENT FOR KEYBOARDINSTRUMENTS I This application is a division of application Ser. No.741,000 filed June 28,1968. I

This invention relates to an improved lighting fixture combination foruse with all kinds of keyboard-instruments, including pianos, organs,and harpsichords.

Pianos were invented and came into use during the 18th century and werebrought to a high state of development during the 19th century. Theywere preceded not only by harpsichords, clavichords, and other types ofkeyboard instruments which until recently had been considered obsolete,but also by organs, which had been in use for centuries and had beenhighly developed during the, baroque period. During all this time, theperformer on keyboard instruments was expected to read music at theinstrument, at least during practice. While at the present time, theperformer of keyboard concerts and of solo recitals is usually expectedto play from memory, there are many occasions, including performances ofchamber music and the use of organs in churches, where the printed musicis conventionally used, and during practice, especially when learningnew pieces, the printed music must usually be before the pianist ororganist. However, in spite of the tremendous progress in lightingduring the past one hundred years, piano lights have remained quiteunsatisfactory, and organ lights have been little better, if any.Primarily, the difficulties have been that the music has not been evenlylighted, sometimes not sufficiently lighted, and that much of the lighthas been directed into the eyes of the performer or of his audience.

Also, it is desirable to have sufficient illumination on the pianokeyboard for the player to be able to see the keys clearly, and this hasoften been overlooked in attempting to light the music on the rack.

, Various lighting expedients have been proposed, but they have failedto solve the problems. For example, lights have been placed beneath thesheet music by having the musicholding rack include a translucent basewith a light below it or by having a light just forward of an opaquebase. However, as is well known, light falls off in intensity accordingto the square of the distance from its source, so that the bottom of thepage insuch devices has been many times brighter than the top of thepage. Also, some of these lights have sent light into the eyes of theperformer. Furthermore, such lights give almost no light on thekeyboard, or light only a portion of the keyboard, and make it difficultfor the-performer to see what he is doing.

Similarly, lights have for an even longer time been placed at the top ofthe music rack, generally with a shield intended to protect the playerseyes from direct light, although often these shields have beenineffective. In any event, the problem of uneven lighting has existedhere too, that is, the top of the music has been lighted many times morebrilliantly than the bottom of the music. Whether the light has comefrom the bottom or the top, it has been impossible to equalize the lightintensity on the page. The light on the keyboard is very dim and in someinstances is practically nonexistent. When the keyboard is not otherwiseilluminated it is especially difficult for learners to find their keyseasily.

Lights at the side have heretofore been no better, and as a resultpianists have generally had to rely upon light from windows duringdaytime, bridge lamps standing behind the pianist, ceiling lights, andgeneral indirect lighting, and often these conventional arrangementshave provided too little light on the music pages and have resulted inmany sad effects, including injury to or strain on the eyes of theplayer when practicing, chronic inability to play music correctlybecause of the difficulties involved and the mental blocks occasioned bytrying to read music which has been too difficult to see properly,struggling to locate badly illuminated keys on the piano, the forming ofbad posture, and many other things. Some of the known unwillingness ofmany children to practice has been traced to the fact that the lightingwas bad and that it was a strain on their eyesight for them to be forcedto practice Also,

when the room illumination happens to be adequate for the player, it isusually too bright for others in the same room and it becomes unpleasantto sit and listen.

In addition to these difiiculties, directly concerned with theinadequacy and unevenness of the light and the glare of it into the eyesof various people, there has been another difficulty. Piano makers havenot given any attention to adequate structure for supporting lights.Even the best pianos are not supplied with them, possibly on the theorythat these best pianos are going to be used mainly for performances bymemory. But this is hardly the case, for even the greatest musicianshabitually read the music when they practice. The music racks havegenerally been inadequate for supporting the kinds of lights that havebeen proposed heretofore, even though these lights have usually beenunsatisfactoryanyway. Also, the wide differences in structure betweengrand pianos, baby grand pianos, upright pianos, and spinets, andbetween the same kinds of pianos as made by different manufacturers, tosay nothing of a similar wide variety among organs and modernharpsichords, have made it difficult to design any sort of lightingfixture that could be attached to more than one specific instrument. Theconsequent unavailability of any such fixture because of, apparently,very limited markets or a necessity to proliferate models of suchfixtures if the large market is to become possible, has left the fieldto general house lighting or bridge-type lamps. Table lamps suitable forplacing on a piano have generally been worse than useless.

Furthermore, each individual may require a slight adjustment in thelight, and each individual instrument tends to require individualadjustment in the position of the light fixtures, so that it has beendifficult for anyone to provide a lamp fixture which was satisfactoryfor all kinds of keyboard instruments.

The present invention is directed to the solution of these difficultproblems, and it is believed to have in large measure solved them. Itpresents a type of piano lighting which basically relies on two sidelights coupled with a shield, so that the light is directed onto themusic from each side of the music and so that the light is not directedinto the eyes of the performer. By using two light bulbs properlylocated on each side of the music rack, the falloff in intensity fromone bulb is balanced by the opposite bulb, so that the light issubstantially uniformly distributed over the sheet of music, and themiddle of the sheet is substantially as well lighted as the edges. Bythe use of shielding or shades having an opaque portion, the performerseyes, as well as those of others in the room may be protected fromdirect exposure to light from the bulb. At the same time, a good light,not too bright, is thrown on the keyboard. I

An important feature of the fixtures of this invention is theadjustability of all forms thereof. As a result only two forms thereofare needed to provide adequate illumination for all types of keyboardinstruments known to me. One type is used for baby grand pianos, grandpianos, spinets, and so on, as well as for many organs and harpsichords,while another form is used for upright pianos. Basically, these twoforms have much in common, with the differences lying in the directsupporting member which is clamped to the piano or organ or harpsichord.The lamps themselves are mounted on offset'arms set in a swivel so thatthey can be swung into any desired position; the swivel itself issupported on the bottom of a vertically adjustable member so that thevertical position of the bulb can readily be adjusted; and a telescopingvertical member which cooperates therewith is mounted for cooperationwith the clamping arrangement which mounts it to the piano itself.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description of some preferred forms thereof. In the drawings:

FIG. I is a reduced view in front elevation of a grand piano withlighting apparatus embodying the principles of the invention installedthereon.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective of a lightingfixture for thepiano of FIG. 1, a portion of the music rack of the piano being shown inbroken lines. The fixture is shown in its uppermost position.

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation of the fixture of FIG. 2 with aportion of the shade broken away to disclose its structure better. Asolid music rack is shown in broken lines.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the shade of FIG. 3, partially broken awayand shown in section.

I FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a modified form of lamp fixturefor installation on a upright piano with a portion of an upright pianoshown in broken lines. This fixture is shown in a lower, extendedposition, the parts enabling vertical movemen-t being the same in bothFIGS. 2 and 5.

FIG. 6 is a view in side elevation of the lamp of FIG. 5 with the pianoportion again shown in broken lines.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the lamp shield employed in FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the lamp fixture of FIG. 3 showing how thelamp may be moved laterally, the lamp being shown in solid lines swungto the left and in broken lines swung to the right.

FIG. 9 is an exploded fragmentary view of the two direction swivelarrangements of the fixtures of FIGS. 2 to 6.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view of an application of the clampingstructure of FIGS. 2 and 3 to an open work music rack, like that ofFIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1, a complete lighting arrangement ofthis invention incorporates two lamps 10 and I1, i.e., two separatelighting fixtures, one on each side of the music rack 12 of the piano13. The grand piano 13 has a keyboard 14, and the music rack 12 islocated above the keyboard 14 and 3 to 7 inches to the rear; a sheet 15of music is shown unfolded on the rack 12. The music rack 12 includes abottom support 16 for the music 15 and an inclined back portion 17against which the music 15 is held in the properly inclined position.This being a grand piano, the lamps 10 and 11 of this invention areinstalled on and held by the music rack 12, in a manner which will beexplained in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3. Since one lamp 10 or 11 isat each side of the music 15, the light which emanates from the lamp I0is brighter on the right page 18 than on the left page 19 of the music1.5, but its uneven illumination is balanced by the lamp 1]. The factthat there are two lights causes the light intensity in the middle ofthe sheet 15 to be substantially the same as what is at the edge of eachof the pages 18 and 19. By properly adjusting the lateral distance ofthe lamps I0 and 11 from the sheet 15, proper intensity and evenness ofintensity are readily attained. The light on the keyboard is alsosomewhat balanced and is quite sufficient and without reflective glare.

The fixtures of this invention are of two main types; the substantiallyidentical lamps 10 and 11 for grand pianos, baby grand pianos, spinets,etc., and a lamp 20 for upright pianos. Both types of fixtures areclamped to a portion of the piano and both of them enable substantiallythe same adjustments of light position.

The lamp is shown enlarged in FIGS. 2 and 3 and, somewhat smaller, inFIG. 8 The lamp 20, in many ways identical to the lamp 10, is shown inFIGS. 5 and 6. Each such lamp 10, II or 20 includes a socket 21 andswitch base 22 at the end of a crank-shaped arm 23 having an uppervertical portion 24 and a lower vertical portion 25 connected by agenerally horizontal portion 26. The vertical portion 25 is mounted in aswivel socket 27 so that the arm 23 can be swung around its verticalportion 25 as a pivot to place the socket 21 in any desired rotaryposition. The fit of the portion 25 in the swivel socket 27 is madesufficiently snug by a steel spring washer 29 bearing between the upperedge 29a of the socket 27 and an annular rib 29b on the portion 25 andacting against a bushing 290 secured to the bottom of the portion 25, sothat the arm 23 will retain any position to which it is swung. Thisenables adjustment of the light relative to the edges of the sheet 15.An electric cord 28 goes up through the arm 23 to the switch base 22.

The vertical position of the light is determined by two keyedtelescoping members, such as a square outer tube 30 and a square rod 31that fits inside the tube 30. A threaded socket 32 is secured, as bywelding, to the square tube 30, so that a set screw 33 with a knurledend 34 may be used to tighten and lock the tube 30 to the rod 31 in anyvertical position. A series of depressions 35 in the rod 31 may providemore secure locking of the set screw 33 at spaced locations. Nearbyextreme positions of the tube 30 and rod 31 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 5and in FIGS. 3 and 6. I

Fore-and-aft tilting of the swivel socket 27 and arm 23 is provided (seeFIGS. 9 and 2) by two round disclike or cuplike members 36 and 37 withserrated surfaces 38 and 39. The member 36 is attached rigidly (as bywelding) to the swivel socket 27, and the other member 37 is rigidlysecured to the square tube 30. The two pieces 36 and 37 are alignedtogether by a threaded stud 40 which is secured to the interior surfaceof the first disc or cup 36 and projects out through an opening 41through the second disc or cup 37. When a wing nut 42 is turned, as by ahandle 43, it bears against the second disc 37 and forces the member 37against the member 36. When the nut 42 is loosened, the first disc 36,together with the vertical socket 27 and the arm 23 can be rotated aboutthe stud 40 as a horizontal axis to any desired position vertical ortilted. Then, when the wing nut 42 is tightened, the parts can be heldin that position. The preferred position is one where the arm portion 26is parallel to the keyboard 14, Le, horizontal.

As described so far, the lamp 10 of FIGS. 2 and 3 and the lamp 20 areidentical. The differences lie in the clamping arrangements now to bedescribed. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10, the inner telescopingrod 31 is provided near the top, at a location spaced down from the top,with a flat cross plate 45 which extends widthwise of the member and isadapted to engage the front of the music rack 12. Similarly, a horseshoelike member 46 is also secured and is adapted to rest on the top edge ofthe music rack 12, as shown in FIG. 3. Since pianos are fine pieces offurniture, both the inner face of the square tube 30 and the inner faceof the cross plate 45 are preferably faced with a soft leather strip 47,48 of a suitable color to match artistically with the color of the metalmembers 30 and 45 themselves and to protect the furniture from beingscratched or marred. Likewise, the horseshoe shaped member 46 ispreferably encased in a clear plastic tubing or other soft member sothat it will not cause any scratching.

Cooperating with these parts is a bracket assembly made of a combinationof pieces, including an L-shaped flat bar 50 having a short forwardlyextending portion 51 at its upper end and a longer vertically extendingportion 52, which may have inner facing of leather strip 53 and,preferably, an outer facing 53 0, also of leather strip. Between the bar31 and bar 50 is a middle plate 54, a flat bar preferably faced on itsinner surfaces with a soft leather 55 or other suitable soft surface. Athreaded stud 56 secured to the square rod 31 above the horseshoeliketop stop 46 extends through oversize openings near the upper ends ofboth the middle plate 54 and the bar portion 52, and a wing nut 57 isthreaded on it to enable tightening thereof. A machine thumb screw 58 isthreaded through an opening near the lower end of the portion 52 andextends into engagement with an indentation in the middle plate 54.Preferably, the head of the screw 58 is covered on its outer end with asoft leather facing or pad 58a. This structure makes it possible toclamp the fixture I0 tightly to the music rack 12 without scratching orin any way damaging the fine finish of the piano or causing anysympathetic vibrations, since all the members which are in contact withthe rack are faced with a soft leather. The structure described abovemakes it possible to adjust a fixture 10 which may be stocked in a storeto various music racks with different thicknesses, heights, and so on,and there is a wide variety of such racks in use on pianos and otherkeyboard instruments. It almost seems sometimes as though no twomanufacturers have quite the same ideas for music racks, but thisparticular structure fits all of them satisfactorily and obtains thedesired clamping.

It should be appreciated that although FIGS. 2 and 3 seem to indicate avertical position, the rack 12 is actually inclined. Since the lampitself may in some instances be heavier than the music rack 12, two suchlamps 10 and 11 may very well over-balance the music rack 12; so, insuch instances, the square tube 30 should be extended out from theposition shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and lowered, somewhat as shown in FIGS.5 and 6 to a position where the lower end 59 rests on the horizontalportion 16 of the music rack.

To attach the lamps l0 and 11 to a grand, baby grand, console, or spinetpiano or to an organ, one starts by noting that the only differencebetween the lamps 10 and 11 is the location of the vertical swivel discsor cups 36 and 37 and the key or handle 43 for them. ln the left lightfixture 10, the key 43 preferably faces the left side of the piano, andin the right fixture, the key 43 preferably faces the right side of thepiano.

The clamp wing nut 57 is turned until the opening between the middlestrip 54 and the square rod 31 is sufficiently wide for the clampassembly to fit over the top of the music rack 12. The strip 54 isplaced behind the rack 12, with the square rod 31 in front, and thestrips 54 and 52 are, for most music racks, parallel to the rod 31 andtube 30; with some music racks (see FIGS. 2 and 10), the strip 54 is atan angle to the music rack 12. The horseshoelike prong wings 46 rest onthe upper edge of the rack 12, and the bar 45 steadies the upper end ofthe assembly. The tube 30 is extended to thedesired length; as said, fora fragile music stand 12 that tends to fall forward when supporting thelamps 10 and 11, the tube 30 is brought down so that its lower end 59rests on the portion 16 of the music rack 12. The thumb screw 33 is thentightened firmly. The thumb screw 58 is tightened so that the lower endof the strip 54 moves in; for an openwork music rack 12 like that inFIGS. 1 and 2, the strip 54 is set at an angle to engage the rod 31 ortube 30, as shown in FIG. 10. In a solid rack 12, as in FIG. 3, thestructure is as shown there. The swivel key 43 is turned and tightenedto make the arm portion 26 preferably parallel to the keyboard 14. Thearm 23 is then swung to any desired position. The arm 23 may be made indifferent lengths, depending on the distance between the music rack andthe keyboard.

An upright piano can accommodate a somewhat similar structure. Thesepianos have a generally boxlike structure enclosing the verticallyassembled strings, with a top lid thereon. In this invention the lid istemporarily lifted or opened. In this instance, as shown in FIGS. 5 and6, the inner telescoping member, the square rod 31, is welded to agenerally L-shaped member 60 which provides a top horizontal portion 61with arm wings 62 to get a good grasp on the top surface of the frontboard of the upright pianos box. A flat cross plate 45a leather lined asin the device of FIGS. 2 and 3, extends widthwise of the innertelescoping rod 31 and is adapted to engage the top part of the frontboard. This plate 45a aids in aligning the clamp with the square tubing30 and keeps the clamp bar 61 from rising when the front board is in aninclined position. The member 60 as shown in FIG. 6 provides a verticalportion 65 parallel to and spaced from the square bar 31. This portion65 may be of double thickness with an inner angular portion 63 to giveadequate strength, and is lined with a soft leather facing 64. A singlethreaded member 66 has a clamp portion 67 padded by a soft leather pad68, and has a handle 69. Thus the clamp surface pad 68 is forced intocontact with the box, as is the upper lined portion of the telescopingrod 31, and, again, a very secure attachment is made thereby. Theadjustment of height is made as before, but in this instance it dependsmore on the location of the music, since the upright piano provides afar more stable supporting surface than does the ordinary music rack ofa grand piano.

The arm 23, swivel assembly 27, 36, 37 etc., square tube 30,

square rod 31, and clamp members 50, 54, and 60 may be made from anysuitable material, including brass or steel.

A globe 70 is screwed into the lamp socket 21, and a shade or shield seton top, supported by the globe 70 by a spring clip fixture 71,preferably. Either fixture 10 (FIG. 1) or 20 (FIG. 5) may be providedwith either a shade 72 or a shade 73. The

shield 72 leaves the round lamp bulb 70 exposed on its rear portion andcovers with an opaque portion 74 approximately (or preferably slightlymore up to about 270) of the side and at least 180 of the top by anopaque portion 75 so as to give protection to the eyes of the player andother people who may be in the room, while sending the light outpractically unimpeded to the music and to the keyboard.

Similarly, the lamp shade 73 has an opaque sidewall portion 76 which mayoccupy half or two-thirds of the perimeter of the lamp shade, and anopaque metal disc 77, about 3 inches in diameter, whereas a translucentportion 78 occupies the remaining portion of the shade. Preferably thelamp shade 73 is frustoconical, with a wider bottom, to illuminate thekeyboard better, and a narrower top to hold down the light there.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselves without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

l claim:

1. A lighting arrangement for a keyboard musical instrument having agenerally vertical music rack and a horizontally extending keyboardlocated below said rack, comprising two lamp fixtures, one on each sideofthe instruments music rack, each lamp fixture comprising a generallyvertically extending light socket and bulb, and a generally verticallyelongated shade means having a generally vertically elongated opaqueportions, said opaque portion extending around the light bulb only atits front and sides, and means securing said shade means with respect tothe light bulb for adjustment relative thereto about the vertical axisof the light bulb and means securing each lamp fixture to the instrumentcomprising means fastening a generally vertically directed member to theinstrument and an offset arm attached at one end to the light socket andswivelly mounted on the generally vertically directed member at theother end of said offset arm for supporting said light bulb for sidewiseswinging adjustment in front of said rack in a clockwise orcounterclockwise direction, the adjustment of the shade means withrespect to the light bulb and the sidewise adjustment of the light bulbin front of the rack cooperating to cause the light to shinesubstantially evenly on the written music supported on the rack in amanner satisfactory to a user of the instrument.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the shade means includes an opaqueportion positioned above the light bulb for directing light downwardlyon the keyboard.

3. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the generally vertically directionmember is located forwardly of the music rack.

4. The arrangement of claim 1 having means for maintaining the swingingmotion of said bulb in a plane parallel to the keyboard of saidinstrument.

5. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein each fixture is clamped to saidinstrument.

6. The arrangement of claim 5 wherein each said fixture comprisesvertical locating means for setting the height of said bulb above saidkeyboard and relative to the music.

7. The arrangement of claim 6 having alignment means for assuring thatsaid swinging adjustment of the bulb is in a plane parallel to thekeyboard at the level determined by said locating means.

1. A lighting arrangement for a keyboard musIcal instrument having agenerally vertical music rack and a horizontally extending keyboardlocated below said rack, comprising two lamp fixtures, one on each sideof the instrument''s music rack, each lamp fixture comprising agenerally vertically extending light socket and bulb, and a generallyvertically elongated shade means having a generally vertically elongatedopaque portions, said opaque portion extending around the light bulbonly at its front and sides, and means securing said shade means withrespect to the light bulb for adjustment relative thereto about thevertical axis of the light bulb and means securing each lamp fixture tothe instrument comprising means fastening a generally verticallydirected member to the instrument and an offset arm attached at one endto the light socket and swivelly mounted on the generally verticallydirected member at the other end of said offset arm for supporting saidlight bulb for sidewise swinging adjustment in front of said rack in aclockwise or counterclockwise direction, the adjustment of the shademeans with respect to the light bulb and the sidewise adjustment of thelight bulb in front of the rack cooperating to cause the light to shinesubstantially evenly on the written music supported on the rack in amanner satisfactory to a user of the instrument.
 2. The arrangement ofclaim 1 wherein the shade means includes an opaque portion positionedabove the light bulb for directing light downwardly on the keyboard. 3.The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the generally vertically directionmember is located forwardly of the music rack.
 4. The arrangement ofclaim 1 having means for maintaining the swinging motion of said bulb ina plane parallel to the keyboard of said instrument.
 5. The arrangementof claim 1 wherein each fixture is clamped to said instrument.
 6. Thearrangement of claim 5 wherein each said fixture comprises verticallocating means for setting the height of said bulb above said keyboardand relative to the music.
 7. The arrangement of claim 6 havingalignment means for assuring that said swinging adjustment of the bulbis in a plane parallel to the keyboard at the level determined by saidlocating means.